My Internet connection failed as the electricity flickered in and out. The computer beeped a couple times then attempted to restart after the power surge. During the reboot process the power failed again and this time didn’t recover. I sat there a couple minutes wishing the power would come back on. I wanted to finish writing my e-mail. As I sat there waiting, I began to soak in the sounds of the night rain. The rain was coming down in waves across the roof. It was a rhythmic thumping sound as the rain pounded the roof. I realized the power wasn't coming back on by itself. I decided to check the breaker. My eyes were not yet adjusted to the darkness. I couldn’t see anything. I knew my own home well enough to walk around with out lights. I got up and worked my way around to the office door.

Lighting crashed outside fairly close to the house sending a shocking explosion of sound into the mix disturbing my night. The light flashing through the windows gave me my bearings and I continued to make my way down the hallway. I reached the bedroom door. Turning away from the door, I scanned the wall with my hands fingering the area trying to find the breaker. Finding the breaker I pulled all the switches off then on a few times. “Damn” I said out loud. I would have to finish that e-mail later.

Entering my room I grabbed the towel from off my bed and started my way to the bathroom. I still needed to get ready even if I had to do it in the dark. I couldn’t blow off another date. The lightning flickered through the ceiling window in the bathroom, illuminating my surroundings for just a second. I could see myself for only a moment in the mirror opposite the shower. My hair was messed up and my eyes were wide trying to see in the complete darkness.

I found the shower and turned it on without much trouble. The water came out of the shower in violent squirts as the pipes shuddered before finally forming a stream. I put my towel over to the side and stepped into the water. It was barely warm. It didn’t occur to me the water heater was electric until only seconds after I put shampoo was in my hair. After only a few moments longer it was ice cold. I hurried to finish my uncomfortable ice cold shower. As I finished shaking the soap from my head the shower pipes began to shudder again causing the water to rip from the showerhead with lashes of ice water searing my skin. The shock caused me to stagger away a little to quick. I slipped out of the tub through the shower curtain and fell to the floor. I landed on my right hand, but it slipped and I ended up slamming onto my side. With my bare body against the wet tile, I could feel the icy needles violating me at every available pour on my skin. Squirming to escape the floor and get up, I quickly reached past the halfway torn off shower curtain and turned off the water. It was too late the water had already escaped the shower and made puddles of water around the tub. I grabbed my towel and threw it on the floor to soak some of it up. Freezing I rushed out of the bathroom to find something else to dry off with.

The noise outside was almost deafening now. The rain continued to peal away at the roof as I made my way into the bedroom. I was so cold I didn’t waste time running to the laundry room to get another towel. I instead wrapped myself up in my blanket to fight off the shivers.

The shivers from the chilly shower encounter were passing as I lay under the covers. I could hear the wind outside begin to whisper as it rushed around the windows looking in to see me lying there all wrapped up. The wind then changed directions to blow into the windows in a back of forth violent banging on the glass. The windows shook in their frames. It was as if the storm was trying to get inside my house. I must have been under the covers for ten minutes before I heard movement in the hallway just outside my bedroom door. It sounded like a scrape on the hardwood floor. Frozen in fear I listened for another sound trying to hold as still as I could. My breathing became short and fast as the tension grew under my covers. With the covers already obstructing my view to the hall, I couldn’t see if what made the sound had made its way to the edge of the covers waiting for me to take a look.

The crash of glass came from downstairs. The shock caused a panic forcing me to stand and rush to my closet for safety. The intruder must have left me alone thinking I was asleep and went downstairs but knocked over a vase while searching for valuables. I dressed quick in the dark and began to search for something to use as a weapon just in case the intruder came upstairs again. My search was in vain, knowing I had nothing but clothes in the closet. I focused on trying to hear the sounds of this intruder praying that the intruder would not come up stairs again.

The storm was getting worse the rain had turned to hail. The hails thunderous noise into the glass was deafening. Yet I listened to the noise trying to hear anything else but the weather. The room outside my closet was constantly in gloom from the lighting strikes. I sat there for what felt like an hour just listening to the storm. Surely the intruder would have left if they knew their presence was known. I kept telling myself. I eventually convinced myself it was safe enough to venture out and find my cell phone and call the police.

I moved into my bedroom once again and scanned the bedroom door and surrounding room. No one there waiting in the shadows ready to attack. I was relieved to find my room empty. I went quickly to the nightstand and found my cell phone. I picked it up and flipped it open. The battery was dead just like the houses electricity.

“ Son of a.” I whispered as I realized that I didn’t have any other phones in the house and the charger was in the other room on my computer desk.

I turned around heading towards the door. There just past the doorway to my bathroom, just within the light created by the ceiling window, sat a medium sized dog glaring with such intensity it caused me to gasp. The dog turned a moment after being noticed and walked out of sight into the darkness beyond my view. I swallowed my scream. The sudden chilly fear I felt under the covers came back to me and overtook my body in waves of panic. The panic shocked me into a stunned state unmoving. This unknown dog's ominous glare was most unnerving. One part of me wanted to run to the garage jump into my car and flee. Another part of me wondered how did a dog get in the house to begin with? Someone must be with the dog. If someone is with the dog, are they also in my bathroom with the dog?

Without understanding why or what motivated me I rattled out "Hello". A person didn't come crashing out of the bathroom or into the bedroom from the hallway, as I feared. Nor did I hear anything from the dog either.

After a moment more I came to the conclusion that I must have left a door open and this dog just wandered in out of the storm. Well this dog can't stay in the bathroom. I need to move the dog to the garage so it didn't find my cat. Confident now that it was only a dog I walked into my bathroom to find it.

Another crash of lighting illuminated my view as I stopped just inside the bathroom door. I quickly scanned the area looking for the dog. It was not within view. Did the dog sneak out? No, it couldn't have. I didn't take my eyes off the door or even blink. How did the dog get out? Then I noticed the rest of the shower curtain had been torn from the curtain rings and had conveniently fallen and concealed the top of the bathtub. The dog must be in the bathtub hiding from the storm.

As I approached the bathtub I could hear the dog whimpering under the shower curtain. My own fear earlier must have changed the way the dog looked in my mind. This dog was obviously scared and was no threat. Yet the hair on my neck began to rise up in alarm to something I didn't yet perceive. I then felt the water flowing around my toes. It seems that much more water was on the floor then I had realized earlier and it was flowing from the tub. I looked at the showerhead. It was off. It appeared that the water was leaking from under the bathtub.

The dog whimpered again. As I moved closer to the dogs hiding spot the curtain rolled off onto the floor revealing a bathtub completely full of water. The dog at first appeared to be floating on the surface yet it was actually struggling as if something was holding it just under the water. The hairs on my neck were not the only hairs standing on end. Now the hairs across my body jolted up. This sensation was painful.

I tried to scream but fear grabbed all the sound and nothing but air came out. Instead of the scream the sound I made was like the wheezing sound a person with asthma might make. I came unglued from the sight of unnatural forces holding the dog under water. I turned to flee the horror, but slipped on the wet surface. My weight pulled me to the floor slamming me hard against my chest knocking the air out of my lungs. Without breath I gasped for air without any return. I flipped over to prepare for some unseen attacker. Some unknown force held me to the floor and restrained me from moving. The force ripped away the buttons of my shirt. If the force had hands it was pushing them down on my chest and violating me. The hands then ripped down the inside of my legs tearing my blue jeans. I continued to scream without sound.

Suddenly water exploded out of the tub soaking everything that was not already wet. It was like the rain was falling through the ceiling. The dog was suspended in air directly above me now. It wasn’t squirming anymore. It just looked at me with empty eyes. Then the dog popped as if it where completely made of water, like a water balloon. The water from the dog began to funnel down toward me. The water funneled down until it drained into my face. The water didn’t flow off my face onto the floor but instead seemed to flow into my eyes and ears. The darkness was starting to cloud my vision as I began to black out due to lack of oxygen. When the last drop of water entered my body the force that was holding me was gone.

With the force lifted from me I found my lungs and began gasping for air. I was in a complete state of panic. I found my legs and sprung up shooting looks in all directions. Every lighting crash forced me to jump in reaction. I had to get out of here. The desperate need to flee was so powerful I forgot about everything but the fear. I ran from the bedroom. I ran too fast for the darkness and ignored reason. I moved to the stairs in full stride and attempted to take them three steps at a time half jumping while descending. I slipped when I reached the bottom. I twisted my leg and falling and sliding on the hardwood into the wall opposite the stairs. Scrambling to my feet I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the car keys from the counter. I could now feel new eyes on me from just beyond the sliding glass doors on the opposite side of the kitchen. I didn’t look I just ran faster back to the hall way and toward the garage. I could feel the eyes moved past the glass and were inside the house now following me. I sprinted now with the fear catching up with me every moment. I crashed through the weak garage door breaking it off its hinges. I got in the car, hit the garage door opener and put the car in reverse simultaneously. With out waiting on the garage to open I slammed my foot down. The car crashed into the garage door and burst through the other side. The eyes where still on the front window of the car. I was feared into not looking. I couldn’t look. I drove the car in reverse down the drive way and to the street. I tried to turn the car but I was moving to fast the car went out of control spinning the car into the street light. My head crashed into the side window spiraling me into darkness. The last thing I felt before going completely unconscious was the fear moving into the seat next to me.